The Right Kind Of Mending
by britobia3
Summary: Percy is in the hospital looking after his mom after her injury from the car accident caused by, the one and only, Smelly Gabe. On his way to get lunch from the hospital. cafeteria, he bumps into Annabeth Chase who is in the hospital getting a cast for her sprained leg.
1. Chapter 1 - Bad Accident, Good Accident

**_This my my first chapter of a real story...it has nothing to do with demigods and I try really hard to be descriptive and language fluid to keep the stories interesting so I hope y'all enjoy my writing!_**

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"No!" I shouted as Leo changed the television channel. I was enjoying myself and watching Animal Planet because they were finally talking about the east coast dolphins. Of course, Leo has to come over and switch the channel to Sophia The First on Disney Junior.

"It's gonna be my time... to show the world that I'M Sophia The Fiiiiirrrrsttt!"

"Shut up, Leo!" I yelled at him without even looking at the face with the mouth where the absolutely terrible voice was coming from.

"No, man. You're just jealous because you don't have the beautiful voice I have." Leo retorted. He's absolutely nuts if he seriously thinks that his voice is anywhere NEAR beautiful. I heard the door unlock and watched Gabe come in, bringing his nasty stench with him.

"Hurry it up, Sally! I ain't waiting all day for you!" He screamed down the hall. I finally made up my mind about him, I officially hate him with everything I have. He's not the most ideal person to live with. I watch my mom tumble out of her bedroom with her small wallet that holds money that Gabe probably uses to buy beer.

"See you around eight, sweetie." she kisses me on the forehead and leaves with Gabe. As soon as they exit, Leo gags and make a vomiting sound as if he's really about to puke.

"What's up with you?"

"Mr. Sewer over there is probably the most disgusting person I've ever been around in my entire life. How is it possible that you breathe everyday with him roaming the apartment?" I laugh at his comment. He makes a good point. If anything, I'm in my room or my mom's with the room door blocking out any uninviting smells.

After a couple hours, Leo left, and I finally got to change the channel. I admit I was a bit bored with nobody around to keep me company. Soon after Leo left, I heard the house phone ringing from the kitchen.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is officer Walter Pennington. Is Percy Jackson speaking?"

"Uh, yes. Is there a problem?" I was getting a bit anxious.

"Yes, actually. Unfortunately, your mother has been in a car accident. It looks like Gabe Ugliano, your step-father, wasn't paying much attention and made a last minute swerve into a truck. Your mother is being transported to a hospital as we speak." I can tell you that I nearly dropped the phone and let it crash on the kitchen floor. Gabe, that no good piece of trash, let my mom get hurt because he wasn't paying attention to the road while he was driving? I didn't even ask how he was doing.

"Oh my goodness, I-I'm on my way to the hospital right now." I quickly grabbed my keys and jacket off the rack and locked the door before dashing out of the building.

* * *

"Sally Jackson, what room is she in? I have to see her," I quickly told the lady at the desk. She searched up a few things on the computer in front of her. She had short, brown hair and was wearing scrubs with brown bears on them.

"She's in room 206 in the left hall. It should be on your right side." I ran towards the stairway saying thank you over my shoulder. I finally reached the room, took a deep breath, and slowly opened the door to find my mom sleeping in the hospital bed. I sat down in the chair near her bed and softly took her hand into mine.

"Please be okay." I whispered looking at her poor, injured body.

I started to get hungry after a couple hours in the hospital room, so I headed down the hallway and asked a nurse where the cafeteria was. I saw an old man being pushed in a wheelchair with a very severed upper arm, and I was so distracted that I wasn't looking where I was walking and crashed into someone. She nearly fell over, but I caught her in time before she hit the floor.

"I'm s-so sorry, that was completely my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going a-and I just-" She cut me off before I could finish my apology.

"It's fine, really. I didn't get hurt anymore than I already am, so I'm alright," she chuckled. "I'm Annabeth by the way." I almost stopped breathing. She was beautiful. I drank her in; her startling gray eyes, her flowing blonde hair, she somehow even wore the gown well.

"I think this is the part where you tell me your name..."

"Oh! Um, I'm Percy. Percy Jackson." I couldn't tell how hard I was blushing, but it must've been pretty hard considering how warm my face started to feel. I took a glance down and saw her leg in crutches. Before even thinking I blurted the first thing that came to my mind.

"What happened?" and as soon as it came out I regretted it. "Um, sorry. You really don't have to answer, that I was just curious."

"It's okay, it's not like it's much of a secret anyway. I fell down the stairs trying to catch my brothers from a game we were playing. I just happened to miss the Star Wars action figure on the floor in front of the stairs."

"I'm sorry about that." I really did feel sorry for Annabeth. She's probably lucky that she didn't hurt anything other than her leg.

"So, why are you here? You certainly don't seem very injured." She asked looking me straight in the eyes.

"Oh no, I'm actually here because my mom was in a car accident a few hours ago. She's um, unconscious." I didn't realize how upset and worried I was about the situation until then, when I spoke about it.

"I'm so sorry, I hope she gets better," she gave me a warm, sympathetic smile. "You know, you look familiar. Do you, by any chance, go to Goode High?"

"Yeah, actually I do. Small world, huh?" I managed a small laugh. I guess getting to see her again wasn't a very bad thing.

"Um yeah, I think I'm starting to remember now. You're in my 6th period and, I think, 8th period class. You usually sit in the back of the class. You're not very social, like you don't really raise your hand or talk much in class."

"I'm not so good with words. I'm actually dyslexic, so even though I should probably be more used to it by now, I take like 10 minutes to read a sentence." I nervously laughed and started to blush. That was pretty embarrassing to admit.

"That's funny because I'm actually dyslexic, too. Although, I read quite a lot it's nothing that really bothers me anymore." Thank goodness she understands. I decided I should part ways with her before it becomes any more awkward.

"Well, I should probably get some food since that's what I really came down here for. Um, it was nice meeting you, Annabeth."

"Yeah, you too. I'll probably see you at school on Monday." I threw her a smile and walked past her towards the cafeteria. School was going to be pretty interesting on Monday.

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 ** _Thanks so much for reading, I'll try to write more and post as often as possible to keep the story going! Feel free to leave any suggestions and give feedback or constructive criticism if you're into that. Stay tuned for more chapters to come!_**


	2. Chapter 2 - So We Meet Again

_**Hey there, I hope you guys enjoy chapter 2 of The Right Kind Of Mending. I actually quite enjoy writing this this story, so I hope you enjoy reading. There isn't really a time skip between the last chapter and this one. Anyway, enjoy!**_

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There are a lot of things that I can say I'm not sure of in my life, but this is something I can definitely be sure of. I hate hospital food, and after eating those hard, tasteless yet disgusting mash potatoes, I might not even eat food for a while. Instead, I settled for some Doritos and a Dasani bottled water from the vending machine. I sat at an empty table near the lunch line and couldn't help but think of her, _Annabeth_.

She was gorgeous, no doubt about that, but I couldn't help but feel more attracted to her every time I thought about her. It was almost as if she was the magnet and I was the metal; as long as she was close enough, my entire self was going to be pulled into her grasp and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

I sighed deeply then sat up, brushed off any excess crumbs that might've fallen into my lap, and headed back to my mom's room. To my surprise, I found her awake watching television.

"Mom? Oh my goodness, you're awake. How are you? How do you feel?" I don't know exactly what feelings came over me, but I could feel a sense of worry and relief. It was a weird mixture.

"Percy, I didn't know you visited." She threw me a warm hearted smile. I just wanted to hug and squeeze her until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Of course I visited, I came as soon as I got the call. By the way, is Gabe hurt?" I didn't ask with any sort of sympathy towards whatever pain he was going through. I was really hoping that he would be hurt long enough for us to pack up all his belongings and throw his sorry butt out before he got back.

"He's in a pretty bad state, actually. I only had a few minor organs punctured whereas he has some bones broken. He'll live though." She looked down in what looked like concern. Did she actually feel bad for that old, scummy man?

"Do you feel bad? Like, are you worried about him?"

"I mean, he isn't very good to anyone, but nobody deserves to be in pain." she replied. My mother is so goodhearted. After all that cruel man witch has done to us and our family, she still feels bad about his position. It almost wants to make me rethink my thoughts on Gabe. Keyword: _almost_.

"So mom, when do you think you'll be out of here? I was kind of hoping we could just kind of leave Gabe a surprise until he comes out of the hospital." I smirked mischievously. She knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Are you _that_ dead set on kicking him out?" she chuckled. I could tell she was amused with my motives. Though, I was completely serious.

"No, seriously. We should be nice people and pack his bags and place them outside the door when he comes back to _our_ home. That way he won't have to go through all the trouble of doing it on his own."

"That would be very nice of us, wouldn't it?" we both laughed at her reply. It was nice seeing my mom laugh and smile. I couldn't help but think of how nice it would be to be living in a house of two.

* * *

So I actually woke up for school on time this morning. I even made it there a few minutes early. Usually I wouldn't be so eager to make it there unless there was something I was really, _really_ looking forward to.

It was an agonizing few hours before lunch, then the bell finally rang. I tried to play it off cool, but I was on a true hunt for Annabeth. She was one of the only things that were on my mind, lately. Then, I finally spotted her with a girl that had brown, slightly messy hair. She was with another blonde, except for the fact that he was a guy. It was obvious that they were romantically involved.

In an attempt to seem like I didn't notice her, I went around a few tables and walked past her, looking side to side so she couldn't miss my face. She fell for it.

"Percy?" I heard her call. I looked up and pretended to search around the room a bit before I spotted her face. I admit a small smile started to grow on my face.

"Oh, Annabeth, hi there. Um, its, uh, nice to see you...again." I began to get a little flustered and nervous. All of that searching and pretending and I couldn't even talk right.

"I was actually kind of looking for you before school started," she was looking for me. That had to mean something. "Anyway, this is Piper and her boyfriend Jason. I have a few other friends that I want you to meet, too. They're in second lunch, unfortunately."

"Oh, yeah that's okay. What are their names? I might recognize them." I, of course would recognize them. I doubt they would know me.

"There's the Stoll brothers. Everyone pretty much knows them, their like the ultimate pranksters." Jason answered laughing at his own words. He must've been recalling some memories.

"There are others like Frank and Hazel and Nico, and we're kind of a tight crew." Piper told me, shifting glances from me to Jason and giving his hand a little squeeze while throwing out a sweet smile.

I do remember Nico from middle school. He was a good kid, but his sister Bianca died and he got all depressed. Everyone could see the change in his attitude.

"If you want, you can sit with us. We always have an empty seat, I mean it used to be filled, but that hasn't happened in a couple years." Annabeth's expression falls a bit. I can see the pain and a bit of ferocity in her eyes but it eases and fades quickly. She motions towards the table, and I sit down last so I don't sit in anybody's supposed seat.

"So,"Piper starts to strike up a conversation. "Where are your friends?" she asks me. She, and everybody else, by now have probably anticipated that I have tons of friends. I didn't really want to ruin the joyful mood, but I wasn't going to start a friendship out with a lie.

"I have my friend Leo, he lives in the same building as I do. That's pretty much it. Plus, he didn't come to school today because he ate something he was allergic to and is sick." Typical Leo. After he left my house the other day, he decided it would be a great idea to eat ice cream...even though he was lactose and tolerant.

"Leo Valdez? I know him. We don't talk too much, but he went to the same camp as Piper and I did a few years ago and I see him every once in a while." Jason replied.

"Yeah, he's a little, crazy." I spluttered out. Now that I think about it, Leo hasn't ever really done anything...normal.

There was a dead silence, but Annabeth let out a chuckle and soon everyone was laughing. We were all so caught up in our laughter that nobody (except me) seemed to notice the tense look exchanged between Annabeth and, the totally typical football playing jock, Luke Castellan.

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 _ **Thanks for reading my second chapter, I tried to be more descriptive with words and thoughts in this chapter so feel free to review and tell me what you think! Also, I am on vacation and I've had this constant hit of ideas, but sometimes it's nice to have a little inspiration or input so please suggest anything you think would be good for the story...until the next chapter, bye!**_


	3. Chapter 3 - Closer and Closer

_**It's been like a month...sorry. This is chapter 3 of The Right Kind Of Mending. This chapter is almost 2,000 words and is longer than the last 2 chapters, so I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I also tried to make it a bit more interesting...**_

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Annabeth. Luke. Friends. Happy. Luke. Butterflies. Feelings. Evil, evil Luke.

It's been almost a week, and my mind always finds a way to wander from homework and television to Annabeth. In addition to my agonizing pain, Luke Castellan just seems to keep on appearing everywhere. Even worst, the target his eyes always seem to land on is Annabeth. I, in a partially honest opinion, don't have any idea to why I even feel any sort of way when I spot something like this happening. In a completely honest opinion, I'm jealous.

"Percy, sweetie, would you like anything to take to your mother?" Leo's mom asked politely. I obliged and received a few extra cookies to take to my mom in the hospital. She couldn't possibly be satisfied with the crap they call food at that stupid hospital.

Instead of heading straight home, I took a walk around my neighborhood and found myself outside of it. I recognized my location and headed towards the only place where nobody would care to go to at this time of day, the park.

As the park came into view, I quickly spotted a park bench and let out a deep sigh as I sat myself down. I spent hours just thinking about my mother, Gabe, Annabeth, Luke, and I even caught myself thinking about Leo singing that song oh so terribly.

I must've thought way too hard because I started to see a familiar figure walk towards me, and it came to my realization that it was Annabeth. She silently made her way over and I scooted over to the left side of the bench so could could sit down.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she chuckled. "I didn't expect to see you, or anyone of that matter, here at the park at this time of day." Wow, I could've sworn this girl read my mind.

"No way, I was thinking the exact same thing!" I looked down letting out this nervous laugh and maybe even blushing. I finally built the courage to look up and found her giving me this amazing smile that could make me blush the way I was a million times in one. I casually shook my head out of it and starting talking.

"I just come here to clear my head of things that keep popping up in my mind. My mom for example, and my step-father." It's funny how it was so easy to rid of my smile as soon as Gabe made an appearance in my mind.

"I'm sorry about your step-father. I didn't know he was hurt, too." she sympathized for me. I immediately felt a sudden urge to laugh come over me, but I withheld. There's no way I couldn't go without a smile though which after thinking about seemed shallow and straight out mean.

"My step-father isn't necessarily the awesome, caring dad you would picture. He's pretty terrible, actually." There, now my smile doesn't look all that malicious anymore...right?

"So what exactly is your step-father like then? Is he like the evil step-mother from Cinderella in man form?" She questioned with a sarcastic smirk playing on her face. I loved it.

"No, he's more like a Duck Dynasty looking, cheating, nasty club goer who is surprisingly married to my amazing, sweet, and beautiful mom. He's in the hospital with some serious conditions. He's not on the verge of death or anything, but they think he's going to be in there for months."

"That kind of sucks. How's your mom?"

"She's going to be out in less than to weeks actually," there was this spark in her eyes for a second and then it quickly went away. "I'm just really happy that nothing major happened to her."

"Sounds to me like you're a mamma's boy." she joked. I wasn't going to deny it though. I was most definitely a mamma's boy.

"So, what's your excuse for being at the park?"

"I was getting a way from someone."

"Who?" and the award for being the most oblivious idiot in New York goes to...Percy Jackson! She would've said who she was trying to get away from on instinct if she really wanted me to know, but I wasn't going to sound even more tremendously stupid like when I told her that she didn't have to answer my question at the hospital. The wisest choice for me was to keep my mouth shut.

"Oh well, I w-was a-actually, um. Luke. Yeah, I was trying to get away from Luke. Running from him actually." and all of a sudden Annabeth Chase became a hidden, insecure, timid teenage girl.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up in the first place," I didn't know what I was feeling but it was like a hole digging deeper into my stomach. "It's not my business, I'm sorry."

"No, it's, uh, I shouldn't be really hiding this from anybody anyway. I know I hardly know you, but can I trust you? With this one thing?" she had this vulnerable, pleasing look and her voice was breaking into pieces. I fiercely nodded my head not wanting to see her any more broken-looking than she already was.

"Yes, of course. You can tell me. What's bothering you, Annabeth?" I was trying my best to be sincere and calm, but I was just overwhelmed with worry. What could Luke possibly be doing that's making her so upset?

"So, Luke and I have been dating for a couple of months. I've known him for years and he's been like a best friend to me. I was a bit hesitant at first, but I agreed to date him secretly to avoid any drama at school. Anyway, he was invited to this party and it was required that he bring a date, and he couldn't bring me if he were secretly dating so he brought Chrissa Morrison. My friend Thalia, who was one of the only people who knew about Luke and I, went to the party and told me that she saw Luke doing things with Chrissa in a closed bedroom." I was utterly shocked to hear any of this stuff spilling from her mouth. Annabeth was a smart, beautiful girl who surely deserved better than what Luke was giving her.

"Annabeth, Luke's a jerk. What he was doing was not okay, and he's even more of a jerk if he thinks it is. I'm incredibly sorry to hear that that happened to you. Why would he do that?"

"I don't know," she was crying at this point. "He was probably getting bored. I don't think I was good enough for him anymore." I was officially broken in half no, thirds no, millionths. I hugged her so tight and hard that she could've bursted, and frankly, she didn't seem to mind.

* * *

The next morning, Annabeth was there waiting by my locker with a hopeful look on her face. Last night we talked for hours and I offered to walk her home, but she requested that we stay a bit longer. So, we laid down on the warm grass and talked about everything from our private lives to childhood memories to friends at school. I never felt so launched in serenity in my life. We opened up to each other like we were the best of friends when we barely knew each other for a month.

"Hey, Wise Girl. Your locker is on the other side of the school. What're you doing at mine?" I was really hoping that she didn't jump to any conclusions.

"I know that, but I was wondering if you had anything planned tomorrow night? There's this cotillion thing that my dad is making me go to and my partner canceled on me the last minute. I would ask Jason, but with Piper being his girlfriend and all..." I knew exactly what she meant. It would be extremely awkward to go to a fancy dance ball with your friend's boyfriend.

"I don't have anything planned actually, so I guess I could go." I shrugged. Annabeth's face immediately lit up.

"Thank you so much, you don't understand how much of a relief it is to have somebody I actually know to be that close to. You know, when we're dancing. If my partner didn't cancel, I would be forced to go with a complete stranger." I gave her a cheeky smile and a thumbs up which I found weird and put down after about 2 seconds.

"Gladly, but I just ave one question. How exactly am I supposed to dance with you at a cotillion if I don't know the dance we're supposed to be dancing?"

"Do you think you can meet up with me after school in the studio area of the gym? I can teach you there."

"Sounds good to me. I should probably head to class though, so I'll see you after school right?"

"Yeah, totally," she sighed and smiled at me once more leaving me in a half-dreaming stage. "Thank you, again." she kissed me lightly on the cheek and hurriedly headed to class leaving me with my face on fire.

* * *

"I don't know the first thing about dancing." I was being completely honest. The last time I danced was at Leo's 7th birthday party, and I knocked down the 3 layered tray of cupcakes.

"It's okay," she told me coolly. "You don't really have to. You just have to know how to move your feet without looking at them is all." she laughed. She grabbed a hold of my hands and then it began. A weird, fun evening is what I would call it. It took a lot of toe stepping and bumping into one another until we finally got the dance down. It wasn't too difficult and wasn't very long, either. We did a last run through it with her following my lead. We were up to the last couple of steps; I spun her and then pulled her really close, really fast. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe.

I was staring straight into her amazing gray, eyes that would swirl like a storm and suck me in like a vacuum. I still had a firm, tight hold on her waist and her arms were wrapped around my mid-back. I would pull away and call it a day, but I really didn't want to. She was mesmerizing and I just hoped the feelings weren't one-sided.

"W-we got the dance down," she half whispered. She slowly unwrapped her arms from my body and I released my hold from her. There was a sudden rush of cold air on my chest. She grabbed her bag and was about to say her goodbyes when I cut in.

"You want me to drive you home?" she looked taken back then nodded her head. I made a reach for my keys and my backpack and we headed out the gym door. The ride home was a conversation filled with funny moments during our practice for the cotillion that afternoon. When I finally reached her house, I walked her to the door.

"Thank you for tonight, teaching me the dance and all."

"I should be thanking you for agreeing to do something so last minute." I gave her this ridiculously large smile that she attempted to hide her laughter at. When that died out, she took a glance at her shoes then shifted her eyes to mine. Without a warning, she grabbed a hold of my cheek with her hand and pecked my lips. She paused then collected her hand, said goodbye and went inside her house. I smoothly made my way back to my car and took a deep breath to keep myself from screaming loudly enough to alarm the entire neighborhood. I was still contemplating whether I should or not.

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 _ **Thanks for reading chapter 3 and I'm doing a lot of things this summer so I;ll be writing, but I won't be writing all too frequently. I'll try to post more within a 2 week range. Stay tuned for chapter 4...**_


	4. Chapter 4 - A Night To Remember

Word Count: 1,441

 _**All that I am**_

 _ **all that I ever was,**_

 _ **is here in your perfect eyes,**_

 _ **they're all I can see.**_

So, I admit that I was extremely anxious to go to this cotillion with Annabeth. As much as we'd practiced the one dance that we were expected to perform, I just had this aching feeling that I'm going to mess up. The only time I've ever danced in front of anybody was at my third grade talent show. That was a day that would haunt me forever. Annabeth however probably had eight years' worth of ballet and tap dance. She was so natural when she was on her feet, like a professional salsa dancer in disguise. As weird and creepy as it sounds, I won't deny the fact that that has popped up in my head once or twice while we practiced.

That afternoon after school, I searched for tuxes and suits in my closet. The last time I did wear something of the sort was at the eighth grade spring fling. My date was Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and I regretted the moment I brought my hopes up because I was let down big time that night. Besides the fact that I was going crazy, I occasionally took deep breaths to return to what I was originally doing. I eventually fell upon a clean, black and white tuxedo. I didn't understand the difference between a suit and a tuxedo until I saw what was before my eyes. Tuxedos had bows. What sane male would wear this? Bows are for girls! It was then that I realized that I would be forced to wear such a contraption to participate in the cotillion. As much as I wanted to burn the bow and pour the ashes into the Hudson River, I was aware of the predicament of me not owning a single tie.

It was torture. Immensely difficult. Exceptionally melancholy. There was only one reason why I even considered to put on such a thing, and it was Annabeth. I practiced with her for multiple hours and accepted her request of attending the cotillion with her, so bailing on her the day of the event is just selfish and shallow. Besides, I did a pretty good job leading. It's not like she could dance alone and lead herself. I pondered on the thought of at least trying to fix my hair up in some way or another. In the end, I ran both my hands through it and called it a day. Soon enough, my phone was ringing.

"Hey Percy. You're still picking me up at 6:30, right?"

"Yeah, I'm going to be heading out the door soon. I just have to find some dress shoes to go with this stupid, stupid tux."

"What's wrong with your tux?" she questioned chuckling to herself.

"It has a bow. Bows are for girls, and the last time I checked, I had male parts and-

"Is it really necessary for me to hear all of this?" she sounded like she was a tad bit disturbed by my speech.

"I'm just stating facts. I don't own a single tie."

"I'm pretty sure most of the guys are going to be wearing tuxedos anyway. It's not like you'll be standing out or anything." she stated nonchalantly.

"Great, so I'll be in a room filled with appropriately dressed girls and bow wearing dudes." I huffed.

"Just make sure to get here on time, my step-mom is going to kill me if I'm late."

"Sure thing, Wise Girl. I'll be there soon," I snickered with a shy smirk on my face. I hung up the phone and exhaled. There was definitely an amusing evening ahead.

* * *

I think that I tripped walking through the door. The place was absolutely astonishing and beautiful. It was like what every girl's dream prom would be, but fancier, and it definitely suited the occasion. Annabeth on the other hand looked stunning from head to toe. The top half of her dress sparkled like a blue ocean and the bottom half shimmered in the white lights that occasionally reflected off of her.

"They went all out with this year's theme, huh?" Annabeth exclaimed. I couldn't stop myself from staring at her. It was certainly long than normally accepted, but she was killing me. She was internally killing me, thrashing and tearing apart my insides with the way she looked, and it confused the hell out of me. And apparently it confused her, too.

"You still there, dude?"

"Oh, what? Yes, um yeah. Of course, sorry I sidetracked a few seconds." _Or minutes._ She chuckled with a light-hearted smile and her adorable, stormy, and fierce grey eyes almost had me mesmerized. A bunch of tornado whirlwinds were filling my head, and there was a disaster in my mind leaving me with no choice but to _not_ think straight. Then it was time to dance and my palms were all sweaty in the non-attractive oaf kind of way.

It was embarrassing, really. She couldn't stop laughing at me, and I couldn't decide on whether I liked it or was offended. Although, it didn't seem as if she cared much either way, she'd still be laughing in my face. I was a total mess. Dancing alone with her was like flying on a cloud with Italian music, and in front of a bunch of rich looking perfectionists, I was the skater dude from across the street. Fortunately, my level of serenity seemed to improve and I was as graceful as a papa bear who just ate diner. It was as good as it was going to get.

"I just want to say thanks…again. I mean, it seriously means a lot for you to cancel whatever plans you may or may not have had to dance with me at some fancy cotillion." _I could do this every day with you if I had the choice_ , I wanted to say. _I'm finally really happy about something and that hasn't happened in a while._ I settled for something else.

"It's honestly no problem. I had nothing better to do. Anything to support a friend, right?" _Good job queuing the awkward tension._ I saw a flash of something, dear Lord there was _something_ in her eyes that gave off a not-so-positive vibe, but it passed as quickly as it came. She looked down at her brick red shoes and peeled her gaze to meet my eyes. It was suddenly like we were in the gym all over again.

We could dance to anything, and I could dance without glancing at my feet every 3 seconds. I wasn't aware of what was going on below Annabeth's face but it was working, and I was most definitely enjoying my view. She started to grow a little smirk across her lips, and her eyes looked devious like a black cat. Somehow I still found it endearing, and her hands were mocking me. The presence of her fingers lingering on my shoulders made me want to shiver with anticipation. Everything came into play but my mind stayed pushed back to the far corner like a reject. Everything I did in that moment came from my heart and body, and frankly, it _couldn't be controlled_. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and—

"Oh my goodness, Percy! We need to get home! I have this physics test I have to study for and I can't afford to get a bad grade!" she started shaking and moving around frantically like she was having an episode of PTSD. It was kind of scary.

"It's okay, chill out. I'll take you home right now." I couldn't help but laugh at it. It was adorable.

"Ok, right now, let's go. Right now, Percy. Percy!" and I laughed and laughed until I choked. And then I just kept laughing.

"Percy, come on. I'm serious!"

"OK...ok. Let's go." I withheld the laughter until it subsided as we walked to the car.

* * *

I walked to my room and sat on my bed thinking. Just thinking. It was a night to remember. It was with Annabeth. I couldn't help but feel something like butterflies inside my chest. It was more than that. My insides would tingle and burn simultaneously and my heart started beating a hundred times faster than it was used to. All I knew was that I never felt that way about a girl before. Heck, I didn't even know it was possible to feel that way about a girl before. I was pulsing with dry admiration. I was like a river that needed water. Annabeth was my water. My phone buzzed with a text tone.

 _Thanks 4 tonight. Ur way more fun than studying for a physics test by the way…;)_

More water.

* * *

 _ **Thanks for reading! It's clearly been waaayyy too long and I seriously hope you guys can forgive me for not posting for so long, but it's been really hard. I rarely ever have time to write because my social studies teacher must believe that is the only class we have and that we have NO LIFE! *clears throat* Anyway, hope you peeps enjoyed the chapter and look forward to chapter 5 for some spiciness...Also, if you have any suggestions to what you want to see and what I should write about, I'm open to anything you all have to share. Wow, long author's note. Anyway, byeeeee!**_


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